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Post by blackox on Mar 13, 2014 19:48:11 GMT -5
I'm glad that you found it useful Copse!
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 14, 2014 12:14:02 GMT -5
rOster!!! NOT rOOster! Oh man, how dumb was THAT! LOLOLOL
So, NOW that I understand what your saying, that is a very interesting concept. If we were at the beginning or our process I think we would consider it. However, we would now have to rebuild 50 nesting boxes. Lot of time and money we don't have available. Also, it's pretty easy to know who is laying or not simply by examining the vent, pelvic bones, and coloration of comb and wattles (where present of course).
Regardless, I think I'm going to print out a couple of these articles because it might be useful to have this information in the not so distant future. THANK YOU!
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Post by blackox on Mar 14, 2014 14:14:26 GMT -5
Glad that that you got some use out of them, mnj!
I also check the feathers. If they are nice and shiny, chances are that the hen is not a great layer. They should be a little on the rough side. Id do use this with the other indicators that you mentioned.
Good luck with your project, make sure to keep it updated!
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 15, 2014 12:24:12 GMT -5
Good point! Would you only feather check at a certain time of year? I've never thought about this issue but guessing here that everyone would have great feathers for the first couple months following molting season so the best time to use that quality would be mid to late spring?
I was just out looking at the babies and we have one that has a white head and tail and buff/red saddle. I THINK its a cockerel... but sure would be a nice hen.
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Post by honeybadger on Mar 22, 2014 19:48:05 GMT -5
I've always used the "2 finger" rule; if you can't easily lay 2 fingers between the pinbones, then that hen goes in the pressure canner.
Catch them on the roost at night; takes just a few minutes to go through the whole flock
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 22, 2014 20:49:16 GMT -5
What's the oldest hen you would be willing to cook? We have a few that are 5 years old. They still lay in the warm months, but we really need to make room for the youngsters coming up. I hesitate with the idea of cooking a bird that old.
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Post by blackox on Mar 23, 2014 8:53:29 GMT -5
Good point! Would you only feather check at a certain time of year? I've never thought about this issue but guessing here that everyone would have great feathers for the first couple months following molting season so the best time to use that quality would be mid to late spring? I was just out looking at the babies and we have one that has a white head and tail and buff/red saddle. I THINK its a cockerel... but sure would be a nice hen. I usually do the feather check near the end of their laying season (late summer, early autumn if I remember right), sometimes earlier. Very interesting sounding color pattern, can you post pics?
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Post by blackox on Mar 23, 2014 9:00:52 GMT -5
What's the oldest hen you would be willing to cook? We have a few that are 5 years old. They still lay in the warm months, but we really need to make room for the youngsters coming up. I hesitate with the idea of cooking a bird that old. As long as they're not turning boney (you shouldn't be able to feel the keel bone) then I would slaughter them sometime soon. Hens that are allowed to get too old can eventually succumb to cancer (probably not a good idea to eat). They get very lethargic, slow, and don't react to much of anything at that point (You can easily feel the keel). We had a few of the hens from our first flock die this way (they were old hens from the start, we got them free from a neighbor).
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 24, 2014 10:37:10 GMT -5
I am an anti photoist... Sometimes I can, most of the time I can't.... It's a technical issue that I haven't been able to surmount to date. Though not for lack of trying on the part of many here. :/
We will probably allow the oldest to live on particularly since they are laying now that it's warming up. By the end of the season they should all be culled and replaced with younger birds. That's the goal in any case. We can no longer afford to feed non layers.
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